THE Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) says it is committed to ensuring the successful roll-out and implementation of Thailand’s One-Country-One Project initiative.
Permanent Secretary Jimi Saelea highlighted this, Thursday.
Mr Saelea made the assurance following fruitful discussions between the Director General of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) Suphatra Srimaitreehithak and her delegation, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade and the MAL in Honiara this week.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is delighted to be a partner in this project,” Mr Saelea said.
“On this note may I on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and Solomon Islands Government thank you the TICA Director General and team, and the Government of Thailand for the willingness to support Solomon Islands through this project,” he added.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is committed and looks forward to working closely with you and the selected communities to ensure it will be implemented successfully.”
The visit of the TICA Director General and her team is the first step to cementing their response to support the country under the Thailand Pacific Islands Forum (TPIF) for the ONE COUNTRY ONE PROJECT Program.
This initiative aims to strengthen the agriculture sector and food security by increasing the value of agricultural commodities along the supply chains and enhancing food security at household and community levels to support the development of a sufficient national economy.
In Honiara, the team visited selected farmers on Guadalcanal and Honiara as part of the project’s preliminary assessment.
The Director General explained the site visits and assessment is important for them to better understand the daily challenges faced by the farming families and communities.
She said the findings will help them design and craft the project to better suit the development needs of the identified locations as well as series of activities to be mapped out to ensure end results are achieved.
“Thailand has done similar project partnerships with other countries and is happy to extend its corporation to Solomon Islands.”
“We look forward to the success of this partnership,” she said.
– Source: MAL media
